ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The Houston Astros had them in the 1990s.
The Miami Dolphins had them in the 1980s.
NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” had them in the 1970s.
They are “Killer B’s.”
There’s a 21st-century group of baseball Killer B’s in Boston that consist of two outfielders and a shortstop who are lumped together thanks to the alliteration resonant in their last names, overflowing offensive statistics and exceptional talent.
They have been so good, they’ve been honored with that same nickname famously carried in the majors by that 1990’s Astros trio of Jeff Bagwell, Craig Biggio and Derek Bell.
Right fielder Mookie Betts, center fielder Jackie Bradley Jr. and shortstop Xander Bogaerts are significant elements inside the Red Sox hive. They also happen to represent 33.3 percent of the American League’s starting lineup in July 12’s All-Star Game.
These Killer B’s have also been critical to keeping the uneven Red Sox in contention this season, especially in the wake of a horrid 10-16 June.
Equally noteworthy for the Red Sox bottom line is that the three combined will earn less in 2016 than what Boston will pay Manny Ramirez this season.
That’s the same Manny Ramirez Boston dealt at the trade deadline in 2008, right before Betts entered his sophomore year of high school in Nashville, Tennessee. Ramirez is getting $1.993 million deferred, while the money for these B’s combined is a mere $1.763 million.
The troika has created plenty of buzz throughout baseball to earn its All-Star slots. Among the highlights of note you may or may not be aware of:
1. Bradley possesses “special” and “extraordinary” instincts in the outfield, thinks Boston’s Green Monster is “more hype than substance” and strung together a 29-game hitting streak that ran until May 26.
2. Bogaerts is a top-five hitter in the AL with a .332 average, rates second with 115 hits and has been engaged in a season-long World Cup of sorts in FIFA 16 on PlayStation with Red Sox minor league shortstop Mauricio Dubon.
3. Betts tops the AL in total bases, stands No. 2 in runs, ranks third in hits behind Bogaerts and Jose Altuve, and is “100 percent committed” in working toward getting more African-American kids to play baseball.
Playing and hitting—literally—in the middle of this All-Star hive of divergent Red Sox talent is second baseman Dustin Pedroia. He’s found a steady compatriot with Bogaerts to his left and defensive stability with the duo of Betts and Bradley covering his six.
“With Jackie and Mookie, it’s like we have two center fielders,” Pedroia told Bleacher Report last week. “Those guys can go get the ball. They can throw. They’re moving together. It definitely shrinks every outfield when those guys are out there. Whenever a guy makes a good defensive play, or throws someone out, it lifts the whole team.”
Pedroia’s combative and feisty playing style carries into the locker room. A random mention of Red Sox minor league second baseman Yoan Moncada triggered a partially sarcastic outburst of indignation as a prelude to one interview. “He’d better find a new position or he’ll be in [Triple-A] until he’s 40.”
About 36 hours earlier, Pedroia had delivered another stinger when a reporter asked what was said during a visit to the mound when he chewed out pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez during Boston’s humiliating 13-7 loss on June 27. “What did I say to Eddie? Do you honestly think I’m going to tell you that?” Pedroia asked and answered with equal incredulity.
His assessment and praise of Bogaerts as a shortstop are delivered with the same blunt sincerity and impact.
“We’re always communicating. The back-and-forth is how you play defense,” Pedroia said. “Xander has gotten a lot better at understanding the speed of the game. He’s got more experience with positioning because he’s played more games. The more games you play, the more comfortable you get with guys’ tendencies; where they hit the ball, where they swing past and things like that.
“At that position, it’s very important to understand where to play. He’s taken to that, and he’s putting himself in the right spot. Now he’s a game-changer on defense. He makes all the plays. He makes the great plays, and we’re pretty fortunate to have him.”
Pedroia is a study in perpetual motion on the field. His verbal and non-verbal chatter spreads across a 180-degree arc. Bogaerts is a chief beneficiary.
“With Xander, we’re on the same page during the game,” Pedroia said. “If he sees something with a right-handed hitter on a swing, and he thinks he’s going to hit the ball, he’ll tell me to scoot up the middle and I’ll scoot over.”
Bogaerts and Betts are, as noted by Alex Speier of the Boston Globe, the first duo of Red Sox All-Star starters aged 23 or under since Ted Williams and Bobby Doerr in 1941.
Markus Lynn Betts (yes, MLB) originally also played second base in the minors and was converted to outfield full time during his rise to Boston. Bradley played all three outfield positions last season, while Betts bounced between center and right.
The decision to anchor Bradley in center and Betts in right was made in the offseason. Due to injuries and poor play, the Red Sox have used seven different players in left field during 2016.
Boston outfield coach Ruben Amaro Jr. was once the general manager of the Philadelphia Phillies. He’s aware of the potential pitfalls when moving players between positions.
“There’s a very close bond there. They have a real mutual respect for each other. Mookie could be playing center field for any team. He would rather play in one spot than bounce around all the time. He could have complained. But that’s not how he is,” Amaro told B/R.
Bradley’s ability to be in the right spot to catch a ball, or reach it just in time, has not gone unnoticed by his outfield coach or second baseman.
“Jackie has an instinct that is very difficult to quantify,” Amaro said. “He does things that the real extraordinary players do. I’ve had a chance to watch Andruw Jones and Garry Maddox as a youngster. I’ve had a chance to watch some really instinctive, fabulous players—a Devon White comes to mind. You can put Jackie in that category because he has a nose for the ball that you just cannot explain. That’s special.
“A little bit like guys like the Ozzie Smiths and Omar Vizquels of the world at shortstop. You watch them play shortstop and say, ‘That’s different from everyone else.’ Those instincts better manifest themselves in center. In our ballpark, you need two center fielders. In Philadelphia, we had Jayson Werth in right and Shane Victorino in center. It was ideal. Here, we have a situation where it was right for the team, and these guys knew it.”
When Pedroia follows anything hit above his head, he too notices Bradley doing special stuff. “His anticipation of things, of swings, his instincts are pretty special. He’s always putting himself in the right spot.”
For Bradley, Fenway Park’s famed Green Monster is toothless. Boston’s 37-foot-high left field jets out from the third-base foul line to the 379-foot mark in left-center field. Its remnants meet the edge of Boston’s bullpen in right-center to form Boston’s Triangle. The Triangle’s apex is 420 feet from home plate.
“Center field seems huge because there’s more space in right-center, but I would say it’s less space because of the wall. Playing the wall isn’t as hard as people make it seem,” Bradley told B/R. “If it’s over your head, let it hit the wall and catch it off the wall. If not, you try and make the catch. Definitely a lot more hype than substance. What’s the big deal about the wall? Guess what? It’s just like any other wall. If you can’t get to it, it’s going to bounce off just like any other wall. Just be ready to catch it off the wall.
“We try to preach to our guys to be aggressive. If a ball hits the wall, it’s basically a double anyway. So why not see if you can try and cut him to a single? It’s not supposed to be a single anyway. You just got a ball hit over your head.”
Inside the offices of the Red Sox Class A affiliate in Salem, Virginia, you’ll see posters of all three Killer B’s along with several other players on this year’s team who once played there. The farm system stocked by then-GM Theo Epstein and his protege Ben Cherington had Bradley and Bogaerts playing together at the Class A level in 2012. Betts joined the duo at the major league level with Boston in 2014.
“Jackie was my first roommate [in major league spring training]. We just bonded because we’re young and came up at the same time. Bogey as well,” Betts told B/R.
Bogaerts told B/R that familiarity breeds esteem. “It makes it a lot more easier coming up together. You know the person. If he’s going through a struggle, you remind him that ‘you can make this kind of play’ and tell them to go back to the kind of guy he was and don’t try to be something else. We enjoy playing the game. We always want to help each other. No matter how good or bad, we always want to help.”
The mixed bounty of offensive superlatives produced by the Killer B’s has given rise to and been driven by fellow All-Star David Ortiz’s historic (thus far) final season.
The abilities of Betts (.339 OBP), Pedroia (.369) and Bogaerts (.393) to reach base often allow designated hitter Ortiz to draw gimme walks or face a beleaguered hurler from the stretch.
This season, the 40-year-old Ortiz is slashing at a Teddy Ballgame-like .337/.429/.677 pace, topping the AL stat sheet with a head-spinning 1.106 OPS and 34 doubles.
“There’s not anything they can’t do once they get in the box,” Pedroia said of Betts, Bradley and Bogaerts. “Offensively, if you’re preparing [for them], you know they’re going to get their hits. You just want them to hit singles. That’s why type of players they are. They’re going to get their hits. They’re going to get on base. You just want to limit the damage. Sometimes you can’t. That’s how good they are.”
Bees, by nature, assume preordained roles and strive for uniformity. Not so in the Red Sox clubhouse. Boston’s baseball B’s deliver a striking contrast in terms of background, skills and pregame attire.
‘Where the Soul Patrol Roams’
Betts, 23, and Bradley, 26, have formed the core of Boston’s Soul Patrol, denoted by specialty T-shirts worn underneath their uniforms.
The moniker pays tribute to the African-American heritage of the two outfielders. To become a member of the Red Sox Soul Patrol, all you have to do is play or coach outfield for the Red Sox. Players of all races and ethnic backgrounds are welcomed.
Before one game here last week, Amaro, too, was wearing his Soul Patrol shirt.
The Red Sox experienced the unique occurrence of having an all-African-American outfield when Chris Young (now on the 15-day disabled list) played left for 40 games this season. The Red Sox were the last major league team to integrate, waiting a dozen years after Jackie Robinson’s 1947 arrival in the bigs.
Twice in this century (in 2005 and 2009), as noted by Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald, the Red Sox had only one black position player on their roster during the season.
In 1981, nearly 19 percent of the players in the majors were black. By Opening Day 2015, that number had fallen below 8 percent, according to The Washington Post‘s Barry Svrluga.
“We’ve got some old souls on the team. We wanted to share the fact this year that the number of African-American ballplayers were declining in the majors. We wanted to let people know, show our support and hope that the numbers go up,” Bradley, who grew up in Virginia, said. “We’re just doing this and having fun. It’s kind of our own deal. We’re not making any big deal about it. Just wearing the shirts and having fun.”
Both Betts and Bradley were inspired by a visit to the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in May during a road trip to Kansas City.
“You don’t see it much—three black outfielders,” Betts said. “There were so many guys who played, really good guys who played, and you only hear about one or two. But there were so many who make an impact, who paved the way to where we are now. There’s so many you can think about, like Josh Gibson, I didn’t know he passed so early (Gibson died in 1947 at age 35). Going to the museum, it opened my eyes to the fact that this opportunity we have now, we have to take advantage of it. I am 100 percent committed to helping get more African-American kids to play.”
Among the names Betts said he learned about by visiting the museum was “Mr. Larry Doby,” who became the first black player in the American League 69 years ago this week with the Cleveland Indians. Another was Sam “The Jet” Jethroe. He was both the National League Rookie of the Year in 1950 and the first-ever black major league ballplayer in Beantown playing for the then-Boston Braves.
Fenway Park is located a mere 1.3 miles from the location of the former Braves Field. Yet it would take another nine years before the Red Sox finally skulked past the color barrier by adding Pumpsie Green to their roster in 1959.
“That’s crazy,” Betts said.
“Soul Patrol” was also coincidentally the name of a noteworthy all-black unit of the Boston Police Department that existed from 1971-72.
The Red Sox bear a scarred not-so-recent and somewhat-recent past when it comes to integration and the development and assimilation of black players. Betts, however, said he feels no added pressure or discomfort because of his race while playing in Boston in 2016.
“That doesn’t register. What registers is not playing well. In Boston, when you’re not playing well, they let you know. No matter who you are, they’re going to let you know. I don’t know if being African-American makes it worse. Probably not now.”
Hall of Famer Jim Rice played in Boston during the racially charged and polarized 1970s and ‘80s and currently works for NESN as a part-time in-studio analyst. He’s also a constant presence at spring training in Fort Myers, Florida. Rice is the only African-American ballplayer who played his entire career with the Red Sox to be enshrined in Cooperstown, New York.
His reception to the Soul Patrol was muted, according to Betts and Bradley. “Not really,” was Bradley’s response if Rice had talked to them about it.
“No matter what skin color you are or where you’re from, you have to play the game and respect the game. He really hasn’t said much about it. His mindset is ‘you have to play the game’ and let that other stuff take care of itself,” Betts added.
The Soul Patrol shirts are designed and produced by 20-year-old Californian Kabir Chimni and his Sports Swag company.
Chimni first connected with Bradley on Twitter when the Red Sox outfielder was playing for the University of South Carolina. “Jackie reached out to me to design some Soul Patrol shirts for him, Mookie and the rest of the outfield in spring training. For the design, I wanted something that really popped and that’s where the spiky edge came to it. I put the Soul Patrol text in the outfield, as that’s where the Soul Patrol roams,” Chimni told B/R via email.
The World Cup That Never Ends
Bogaerts’ pregame shirt of choice is a modified Lionel Messi Barcelona home jersey. His affinity for soccer goes back to his days as a boy in Aruba. The multilingual (English, Spanish, Dutch and Papiamento) shortstop has found an apprentice of sorts in Honduras-born Dubon, who was recently promoted to Boston’s Double-A affiliate in Portland, Maine.
Bogaerts is also a client of Scott Boras, which means Dubon could be his replacement in 2020 if/when the Yankees sign Bogaerts for $350 million over 10 years.
Until then, expect the two to log another few thousand hours battling on the digital pitch long-distance.
“We lived together in spring training. We play a lot. Since he’s a shortstop like me, we like the same stuff and do a lot of the same stuff. I just dedicate a little more time at that than him. I play it a lot,” Bogaerts said.
That dedication has paid off in their unofficial standings.
“Out of the whole [Red Sox] system. The only guy who beat me in FIFA is the other No. 2 [Bogaerts],” Dubon told B/R. “We play whenever we can. We talk a lot. He helps me out a lot with fielding and hitting. He helps out big-time.”
Bogaerts won’t be helping Dubon in FIFA 16 again any time soon.
“I don’t keep a running tally because I know it’s always me winning. Pretty much. He started getting a nice streak of three games in a row. I gave him some tips, then he started to beat me. I won’t be giving him any more tips. I got back winning again. You struggle in PlayStation like you do in baseball. Trust me.”
The PlayStation FIFA 16 style of Bogaerts mirrors his real-life MLB 2016 approach: Focus on offense without being too aggressive.
“Offense. Score. Score. Scoring. I don’t like tie games. You have to score goals to win the game,” Bogaerts said. “It’s no different than when I’m at the plate. No one is going to sit around and give you a base hit. The scorer is not going to give you it. You have to go out there and try to get one every at-bat.”
Practice, Practice, Practice
All three B’s have experienced batting slumps of various lengths in the past two seasons.
Bogaerts said patience and preparation have been critical in turning things around. Betts joined Pedroia and Travis Shaw for early batting practice here five hours before game time on June 28. “I was slumping. I needed it,” Betts said.
Bogaerts’ 2016 FanGraphs spray chart is evenly balanced when it comes to line drives and fly balls. There’s a heavy tilt leftward when it comes to grounders and home runs (eight of his nine HRs have been hit to that side).
“I’ve been hitting a lot of balls to left field because of the way they have been pitching to me. Using the whole field is probably the biggest part (of why he’s hitting well), because sometimes teams are trying to shift you. That leaves a big open hole at second base, so you want to just shoot the ball right there. I was talking to Mookie about it when some teams started shifting him. He got a few knocks, just little ground balls that got through. They should have been out, but they were hits.”
While bees are born and bred into a lifetime of performing a singular, repetitive task, Boston’s Killer B’s never stop learning—at least when it comes to baseball.
“You’ve got to notice it. That’s why the videos are important. That’s why in between at-bats are important. You have to know how they got you out and know how they throw you. It’s all about the work done in between at-bats and realizing what they’re doing with you,” Bogaerts said.
The entire baseball world will see all that buzz and perseverance showcased next week in San Diego.
Bill Speros is an award-winning journalist who covers baseball for Bleacher Report. He tweets @BillSperos and @RealOBF.
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